Rewind

by Laura Dower, Steve Scott (Designed by)

Sometimes, love only makes sense backward.
This is a teen romance like no other -- a thrilling tale of betrayal and heartache told in an incredible reverse format. Think MEMENTO meets SUMMER BOYS!

It's prom night. Shy hippie chick Cady is hoping for a dance --- and a hook-up ---- with her long-time crush, the sexy musician, Lucas. Instead, she witnesses Lucas commit an act of unforgivable cruelty toward his date, the gorgeous and popular Hope. But nothing is what it seems. As the story unfolds in backward time -- retracing one senior year --- we see a slowly developing photo of the truth. Roles are reversed, secret motives are exposed, and hidden desires come to the surface. This twisty tale of a love triangle gone wrong will keep readers guessing until the last revelation.

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Fiction, Teen

256 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2006

About the author

Laura Dower worked in marketing and editorial in kid’s publishing for many years before taking a big leap to the full-time life of an author. Since 2000, she has penned 90+ books–from picture books to young adult fiction and nonfiction. Along the way, she had two sons and a daughter. Laura and her groovy family of five live in Yonkers, NY.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated this book. I feel bad even saying that, but it's true. It's gimmick/appeal is that it's written backwards, starting at the end of the story of Lucas, Hope, and Cady and working to see how it all began. I tend to hate that sort of thing (it's got timestamps at the beginning of each chapter) but I kept at it to see where it was going, which was dumb, because I knew where it was going because it started with that. Does that make sense? Anyway, there was no resolution (obviously) and even after re-reading the first chapter at the end, I still didn't understand exactly what this was building toward. I didn't really like any of the characters, although I definitely felt like I knew them. A lot of the writing seemed sort of corny because the writer was trying to make it really teen-friendly. In generally, teens do not 1. kiss their friends on the cheek, 2. walk with their friends/parents etc with their arms linked 3. say things like "have you heard that new Outkast tune?" or "I won't be by later because I'm hanging out with my other girlfriend"

Ugh. There were some non-graphic sex scenes, for those of a fainter heart. Anyway, the

[Alexa McIntosh · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm just going to start by saying: DO NOT READ THIS BOOK!. Seriously though. It will only bring disappointment, anger issues, and a three week session of yoga. The main characters in this book (Lucas, Hope,& Cady) are a complete disappointment to me.Lucas is obsessive,possessive, and a wee bit mean.Oh, who am I kidding?He's a complete $%&%$#@! Hope is a self-centered, conceited, brat. And Cady is just.......Cady I guess? Anyways, did Lucas really had to go with the vile witch? *cough*Hope*cough*.Why couldn't he go with Cady ;-; When I was done with the book, I was like: WHY?! WHY?! I felt like going up to Laura's face and saying : WHAT WAS THE POINT OF A MAKING A BOOK LIKE THIS?!" She would probably call security to throw me out, and such.

*Clears throat* Moving On. At the beginning I was like : What...How?Why?. But towards the end I was like: -insert me throwing the book at the wall and throwing a tantrum- I was so confused! Like, at the end, what did Lucas mean when he said " It wasn't her. You were the one." I was so confused by this, that I even asked Siri what it meant! Anyways, the WHOLE gist of what I said is basically : Dude, don't read this book. Do something better with your life by, I don't know, reading TMI. That is all. Au Revior ♥

[Shannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this book was pretty stupid. It's been a while, but I remember finally getting to the end and being disappointed at the shabby explanation for why the whole thing started.

[Emma Dagg]

I overall liked the book Rewind. The main reason why I liked this book was because it started with the end result and you had to read through the events backwards to get the story. I liked how there were three main characters and they all narrated so you could hear everyone's point of view. The book was about how a nerd, Cada, meets a boy named Lucas who is her crush and she has to fight a battle to win him over from the popular girl, Hope.

[Kaion · Rating 1 out of 5]

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for a public service announcement: Mutual emotional whining is not love, teenagers. Girls, violent boys are just that -violent- and dangerous, not misunderstood. Boys, no matter how heartbroken you may, it is no excuse to resort to hitting.

Rewind tells the story of Cady, Lucas, and Hope, three seniors whose entanglements with one another end in a bad prom night. The title of the book refers to Downer's usage of reverse chronological order as she switches between the perspectives of the three leads. The reverse storytelling seems like a contrivance however, merely intended to retconn a villain into the piece, and the none of the narrators really take off from the page to become believable characters.

Furthermore, the prose is often awkward, and Downer often makes novice writing mistakes- such as having to describe what each character is wearing in every scene. This gets old real fast. The not-so-"shocking" teenage antics seem ripped from bad teen soaps, despite the author's constant attempts to seem "hip" and "real" by name dropping brands left and right. The "dark events" that surround the characters, for example, sexual manipulation and an alcoholic parent, are played for cheap emotional response rather than really understood or explored.

There are some good concepts touched upon here: the breakdown of friendships and the power games people play, but ultimately they are not delved into very well as the novel ultimately resorts to character stereotypes and overwrought backstories. I found the protagonists incredibly unlikeable, and the tale to be sending a very reprehensible messages about teenage "love". Rating: 0.5 stars

**spoilers** The end of the novel, by focusing on Cady's hope of getting to know Lucas and Hope's (not very believable) plan, as well as the of the first chapter (Cady and Lucas reaching for one another)- seems to try and present this as a touching love story and Hope as a villain. When in fact, Lucas is a very disturbed young man- obsessive and violent- and Cady (a nice, if dumb, girl) doesn't deserve to be inflicted with his love.

[Oumou]

In the beginning of the book Cady was pretty shy because of her long-time crush, Lucas. In the middle of the book she begin seeing the other side of Lucas. He begin being mean to people by hitting them against the wall, punching them in their stomach, kicking people in their backs and etc...
Cady and her best friend started to know who Lucas was in reality.
at the end of the story Cady saw something she could never imagine Lucas would do. He slapped Hope, his girlfriend, who cried and said she was never going have a crush on Lucas again. But she still wanted to have the last dance with him.

[Isaiah · Rating 1 out of 5]

To see more reviews check out MI Book Reviews.

This book was hard to read at first. The characters were not drastically different to start. Once I could tell the characters apart, which only happened after the boys became a part of the story, the book got more interesting. The fact that the three main girls were hard to tell apart until boys were around shows a lack of development of the female characters which is surprising coming from, I’m assuming, a female author.

The most interesting plot line was Jamie’s. She was dating the guy she met last summer, but in the middle of the summer he tells her that they were never dating. She goes wild and breaks into his house and smashes his stuff and hooks up with his friend. Another, clearly, unhealthy depiction of a relationship.

Beth has the classic girl falls for the close guy friend that she never expected to like. Of course they only get together when he gets drunk. Before they get together Beth is super jealous and that is seen as natural. Yet another example of an unhealthy relationship.

Ella has a more interesting plot line that Beth. She is crushing after the guy her older virginal sister gets with. She half tries to steal him, half to get attention and half to get him. She sleeps with him right after she finds out that her sister was thinking about it, but got dumped before she could. The big twist with this one is also expected and show how much a skeeze the guy is.

So this book wasn’t a bad read, but I am getting tired of only seeing unhealthy relationships. There can be flawed relationships, but these are unhealthy ones portrayed as ideal (Beth) or hot (Ella), and that there are different ways to react to a break up (Jamie vs the older sister of Ella).

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote a report on this, but no one had ever checked it out in the library, so i could just make stuff up and my teacher didn't know, Thanks Laura!

[Sarai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazon Product Description
It's prom night. Shy hippie chick Cady is hoping for a dance --- and a hook-up ---- with her long-time crush, the sexy musician, Lucas. Instead, she witnesses Lucas commit an act of unforgivable cruelty toward his date, the gorgeous and popular Hope. But nothing is what it seems. As the story unfolds in backward time -- retracing one senior year --- we see a slowly developing photo of the truth. Roles are reversed, secret motives are exposed, and hidden desires come to the surface. This twisty tale of a love triangle gone wrong will keep readers guessing until the last revelation.

Toward the end of the book, I found myself skipping ahead over what seemed like meaningless random passages that did not have anything to do with the plot. It also did not keep me guessing. And the last chapter just kind of stopped, so it didn't seem like the book had a real ending. The beginning of the book was definitely better than the last part, because in the beginning I did feel like there was a mystery to be solved and I wanted to know how these people got to this place. But about halfway through it just lost steam for me.

[Rinn B · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book in three hours. I didn't really want to read it in the first place because when I got it home from the library and I reread the back it didn't sound as good as i originally thought. I did read it though, well not really I skipped a lot of it in the middle, only choosing the read the parts with Lucas in them since I wanted to figure out what was going on with him. I really hate Hope, so much she is such a bitch, telling him that he should just get over his mothers death, she is so cruel. I thought the idea of the book going backwards would be cool and reading it was ok but I hated how indecisive the ending (or beginning) of the story was, do they end up together? There was no retribution for the evil girl and the perfect couple does not end up together. Now I have read it but I find that I didn't even get the satisfaction of knowing a new story since the story didn't end. I wanted to know what happened in their time but ended up just wasting my own.

[Jayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to delve into the dark deep crevices of Dower's mind to figure out what sort of mind creates a book like this. This book is amazing, I've never read a book backwards before and I can't believe that it flowed so well and made so much sense. Rewind brings ill fated love to a whole new level and Dower does a great job of not spoon feeding you the ideas but letting you come to your own conclusions.In fact, Dower's novel might just bring back long forgotten memories of past loves. If you believe in Romance Dower i both beautifully written and devastatingly heartbreaking for those who live by the law of Rose colored glasses.

[Lucille · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story was told back to front, starting with the ending and working back through time to see how it all began. It seemed like an interesting way to write a novel when I first picked it up, but it just didn't really work out the way that I thought it might. The characters felt forced, the climax wasn't that exciting and it just lacked something. There are a lot of stories out there that have a dark hidden secret from the past that is revealed at the end, but they seem to do a more successful job than this story did. I guess this is what I get when I pick up a book for 25 cents at a used book sale.

[Vicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, but the way it was formatted confused me. It was nice to see the two characters' friendship evolve from bitter anger to kindness, but I really wondered if I should have just read from the back to the front. I thought Cady and Lucas were cute together, but was taken back by Lucas's obsessive relationship with Hope. Sometimes, I felt like the middle was not in fact the past but the present, you know? I read it but I never had time to type up a review but I do remember some of the main events. I did skim through some of the words since I read it on the bus. But overall, I enjoyed it.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure how I feel about this book. It goes backward in time, from the end to the beginning. Hence the name, Rewind. But I ended it not really having an answer for the beginning, or at least not an adequate answer. It was a typical teen story - good girl, bad girl, and boy in the middle. At any rate, I'm glad I read it. Of course then, I've never read a book I was sorry I read. Give it a try. Maybe you'll see something at the end that I missed. After all, it's been a LONG while since I was a teenager! LOL

[A. Mickey Perkins · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't waste your time. The characters are dull, the prose is boring, and the plot is, well, nonexistent. I mostly wanted to read this book because the timeline is reversed - the chapters come in reverse order. But, really, there was no reason for it. All it did was mix up facts, and by the end I didn't know what was going on. There are better books. Choose one of them instead.
Oh, also, this book offers no ending. Nothing is ever resolved or explained. The climax is the first thing you read, and there is no resolution. Just... don't do this to yourself.

[Kimberly Polanco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rewind is about a shy girl named Cady Sanchez who has a long-time crush named Lucas Wheeler. But Lucas is wrapped up in gorgeous, popular Hope White. Hope White happens to be an old friend of Cady. At prom night Lucas slapped Hope White in the face and of it changes everything. This book is read backwards. From the end of the book to the beginning of the book, it might get confusing but once you get the hang of it is a great book.

[Eve · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is what happens when you try to write a book that runs in reverse chronological order and you don't OUTLINE the shit out of it first.
Characters change personalities between scenes and between sentences. It's rushed and sloppy. I see what the author was trying to do, but it really doesn't come across well.
My version was an ARC picked up from Goodwill, maybe some of it was fixed before publication, I don't know. But the version I read was just... lackluster.

[Caitlan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book "Rewind" by Laura Dower is told from ending to begining. The books is told from 3 character's points of view and shows everyones side of the story.It begins with the events of Senior Prom night and then goes back in time to eveything that leads up to this miserable night for Cady, Hope and Lucas. I enjoyed the way the story was told and how I could learn everything each character experienced.

[Josianne Haag · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was interesting in the way that every chapter brought the story farther back in time, but I have to say that I didn't really like this story. Just because of the way the story was presented the ending wasn't really an ending and it was all very strange.

I really liked Cadu and Lucas together, but Hope just brought down the story for me. In the end I was just so frustrated with how things turned out and couldn't really concentrate on anything else. It was just very unsatisfying.

[Anaiz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like the title hints, this story is told backwards. I don't think I understood the story any better, but it was interesting to see "why" things happened or turned out after knowing how it ends. It was quick read and a little different than most stories I've read, but the characters didn't really stick to me, 2.5 stars.

[Echo · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a while since I read this one, but I remember liking it. The characters were well-developed and the author did a very nice job of keeping the story interesting and easy-to-follow, despite the backwards sort of order to the plot.

[Gineiris · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very interesting book in the way that it was written. It was written backwards and you really had to pay attention to what was happening. I wasn't so happy with the ending because it left so many questions left unanswered.

[✿｡.:*:.｡✿*ﾟKhlooᗪﾟ*✿｡.:*:.｡ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, I didn't not like this book at all. I'm sorry. The beginning I was like OMG why the hell did Lucas hit Hope and why Lucas say that Cady was the one. I though there was going to be a really good book but everything was just so confusing.

[Zinniah Free · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really good. I loved how Laura Dower wrote it from the last chapter to the first. You could feel the moods of the characters and on the cover of the book when it says "Sometimes love only makes senses backwards" is true.

[gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

I tried to finish it even though the book from the start to 3/4 was pretty typical. I kind of expected the ending to answer all my questions but it just made me more confused. I still like it because it peaked my interest

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

i hated it this book totally sucks do not read it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a amazingly-compelling-awesome-sweet-lesson teaching-cool-overall fantastic book! Such a perfect plot, BACKWARDS! wow.

[Ashley Elking · Rating 1 out of 5]

Least favorite book.

[Jenny Werewolf Girl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book!!

[lalakary · Rating 3 out of 5]

sigh... i got dissapointed at the end. nothing really special that the story was leading up to.